


Daud's Heart

by Kairyn



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Complete, Daud has a heart, Daud-centric, Guilt, LITERALLY, M/M, No longer one shot, One Shot, Parent Daud (Dishonored), Royal Spymaster Daud (Dishonored), So much guilt, Tags missing to avoid spoilers, The Outsider is a jerk, Unhappy Ending, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-06-16 11:41:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15436275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kairyn/pseuds/Kairyn
Summary: The Outsider gives Daud a gift. The heart of a living thing... molded by his hands.Warning! Reading this will make you a sad panda!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my Outsider, what is wrong with me? Why did I write this even? I'll tell you why. Because I'm horrible. Take those warning tags seriously please!

Pendleton was being annoying. Again. But as the last living brother out of three and severely alcoholic, Trevor couldn't really help but be annoying. That was what Daud kept telling himself anyway. Daud read over the missive in front of him and sighed before tossing it onto his desk without too much care. Daud didn't particularly care about Pendleton's little tiff with the Boyle sisters. So he didn't get invited to one of their parties, it was hardly something the crown would get involved with, yet Pendleton seemed to think it gave him the right to throw around false accusations in vengeance. Daud would have to send someone to set the drunkard straight. Again.

A pulse beside his heart brought his attention away from work and, after a slight hesitation, Daud gently removed the soft fist-sized piece from his coat. The Heart was as pristinely mutilated as it had ever been. The glass window showing whirling gears and reflecting his own scarred visage back at him. The metal wires and spikes still piercing it in a way that made Daud's own heart ache. It was as if his own blade were wedged through the defenseless organ and Daud couldn't imagine anything but that it had to hurt. "What is it?" he murmured as his thumb brushed along the strange, otherworldly texture. Somewhere between worn-out velvet and supple leather. The feeling was unsettling, but then everything about the Heart was made to be, Daud was sure.

~Today an Empress comes of age. A promise upheld. But not the one she wants.~

Daud stared down at the Heart in his hand. "I can't do that to her," he said.

~Will you withhold the last piece of her dreams from her?~ the Heart whispered.

Daud felt choked at the question and closed his eyes. "It won't be a kindness to tell her," he argued. "Do you really want that?" He shouldn't argue with the Heart. He really had no right to do so, but he had come to care for Emily Kaldwin, and the thought of breaking her heart at the beseechment of the Outsider's 'gift' did not sit well with him.

~It is not your secret to keep.~ came the whispered response.

Daud sighed and sat back in his chair. He head fell back, and he held the Heart close to his own chest protectively. The Heart was right, he knew, but that didn't make the prospect any easier.

The first time Daud had taken hold of the Heart at the Outsider's behest and squeezed, the voice that came from it had startled him so badly he had thrown it. The blasted thing had returned to his hand and would not leave. The Outsider wouldn't allow it to be left behind. The guilt that familiar voice caused had overwhelmed him entirely -as if he hadn't been feeling more than he could contain already. Daud had been wrecked for weeks, and no matter what he tried to do, the Heart never left his person. Nor would the Outsider take it back. The black-eyed bastard hadn't even appeared again.

Daud had reluctantly taken the Heart with him as he hunted down Delilah. He tried to not use it. Squeezing the Heart to make it pulse and tell him secrets felt viscerally wrong. Perhaps if he _had_ used it back then, Billie's betrayal wouldn't have caught him so off guard.

Even after they had defeated the Overseers and he had sent Billie away, Daud hadn't wanted anything to do with the Heart. The Outsider was never a benevolent God, Daud was well aware of that, but to give Daud of all people such a thing had seemed particularly cruel.

After Billie, Daud had pursued Delilah, and though he hated using it, the Heart had been a key factor in how he'd saved Emily from a fate worse than death. The Heart had been the one that had guided him through Draper's Ward, the Hatter's territory and the sewers beneath. Then later, through Brigmore Manor to the lantern and then the painting. Without the Heart, Daud wasn't sure he would have managed just by himself. A full out assault might have been necessary.

That didn't mean it had become any more natural to use, though. Each time Daud squeezed his fist around the delicate Heart it felt like he was twisting his own. The Outsider hadn't said anything about it hurting, but the Heart had whispered enough things that Daud knew the spirit inside was far from peaceful. That was hardly fair, but Daud still couldn't seem to get rid of it.

After a while, Daud had learned to be able to put it down, but he couldn't leave it for long. The Heart beat frantically and erratically as if having a fit and Daud couldn't leave it like that. He always picked it back up as quickly as he could. Daud knew it was probably silly of him, but he'd always apologized to it as well. As if leaving it alone on a desk was the worst of his crimes. Still, Daud learned quickly to not abandon the Heart even for that short a time.

And then, Daud had been hired again. He had made it a point to not take any assassinations, but the mission of those employers had caught his attention. Admiral Havelock had wanted him to find Emily Kaldwin. Of course, the Admiral had no way of knowing that Daud had Emily in Rudshore still. He hadn't quite trusted the Lord Regent at his word and kept Emily as insurance that he wouldn't attack. Or, that was the story. As the Heart so helpfully pointed out to him, he couldn't bear to leaving a sobbing ten-year-old with the two horrible Pendletwins. _Her tears reach you where nothing else has in a long time. A very long time._ Those had been the Heart's exact words. The Heart, of course, hadn't been wrong. Emily's tears tore at him with guilt and remembered the anguish of his own that he'd tried so hard to bury. So, he'd kept her. But, he'd agreed to help Havelock clear the way for her to take her mother's throne.

The Heart had not trusted Havelock. It whispered to him regularly about Havelock and his other conspirators. This time, Daud had heeded the warnings.

But that was years ago now. Emily was eight years older and perhaps not the most attentive Empress, but she loved her people and tried to do right by them. She was still young and trying. Daud was doing his best to help her too. His network of spies and informants were at her disposal, and more than a few times the Heart itself had warned Daud of threats that nobody else could know. Yes, Daud excelled at being a Spymaster and Emily had slowly come to trust that he had her best interests at heart.

She didn't know why, as Daud had never dared to tell her what he carried with him at all times, but she had learned the truth of it. Daud sighed and let his thumb brush over the Heart again. Though he'd initially resisted with everything he had, Daud couldn't deny he'd come to rely heavily on the Heart. Especially where Emily was concerned. Daud had never been a parent really. Master was distinctly different from a father. As a Master, he'd been able to let the little personal bits drop by the wayside. That hadn't been what Emily had needed though.

~She thinks of you as a second Father,~ the Heart whispered unhelpfully.

That only made Daud feel even more guilty. He wouldn't have had to step into that role at all if he hadn't killed himself an opening. "She shouldn't," Daud murmured as he opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling. "I ruined her life."

~You built her a new one.~

"Hardly enough," Daud replied. The Heart was silent after that and left Daud to his brooding. Daud heard footsteps, familiar in their gait and pace, and carefully tucked the Heart away again.

Just in time, as it turned out, as Emily herself came bursting into his office with a smile. "Daud! There you are! You can't still be working! It's my birthday, you promised you'd come down and celebrate!" she said in exasperation.

Daud, despite himself, smiled. He used to feel suffocated with guilt each time she made him so much as smirk, but now it was just a flicker. "I'll be down soon, Emily."

Emily looked unimpressed and folded her arms across her chest. "You said that an hour ago," she pointed out. "Do I have to get Thomas to pull you out of here?"

"No, no, I'm coming. I promise. Let me just lock these papers up," Daud assured her. Emily was supposed to leave but instead waited expectantly as Daud carefully organized his papers and then neatened them up. By the time Daud had taken his sweet time in locking them in his safe, Emily's foot was tapping with impatience. "You could have gone down ahead of me."

Emily gave an entirely unladylike snort. "Yeah, and you'd have been down never... just like my last birthday. And the one before that." Daud sighed at the hurt tone in Emily's voice. "Why don't you ever come?" Emily asked softly, looking off to the side.

"Em..."

"No, tell me!" Emily insisted fiercely. "I want you there!"

Daud sighed again and ran a hand through his steadily greying hair. "I just... know who you would really rather be there, Emily. And I don't want to remind you about it," he said.

Emily stared at him in surprise, her big brown eyes exactly like Attano's were wide before they shifted down to the carpet again. "Just because I miss- that doesn't mean that I can't want you there too," she said, her voice breaking at in the middle. "You saved me. Twice."

Daud could remind her that she wouldn't have needed saving at all if he hadn't done what he had, but they had hashed out that argument enough times over eight years that every variation of it had already been done three times over. The Heart throbbed against his chest, and Daud took it as a signal to cautiously wrap his arms around her. "I'll come down with you," he promised against her dark hair. "I can't promise I'll be fun, though," he added because he knew it would make her smile.

Emily let out a slight laugh and wiped her eyes on his red Spymaster coat. "Dodge and I will make sure you have fun," she promised.

"Outsider save me," Daud said dryly.

Emily laughed again and the Heart throbbed. ~She has grown so much. So beautiful.~ Daud felt another wrenching stab of guilt, but buried it down to keep up a happy face for Emily. Part of him wished he could bring himself to leave the Heart behind as he followed Emily downstairs but he just couldn't. Daud hoped that the Heart was mostly unaware of what was going on around them -if only to spare the spirit within some modicum of pain. None of it was fair. Daud shouldn't be able to enjoy Emily's happiness after what he'd done while the Heart was trapped in his pocket. It was beyond cruel on so many levels.

The party lasted long into the night, and Daud had drunk more than his fair share by the time it had finally wound down. As he curled into his bed and closed his eyes, Daud heard the Heart thump and pound. Daud pulled it close instinctively until the pulsing calmed down. It must be lonely trapped in one's own heart, he thought just before he drifted off to sleep.

In his dreams, Daud remembered the first time he had seen Corvo Attano after the Gazebo. The Outsider had dragged him into the Void for the first time in years. Daud had not been happy at the visit. Even less so when he saw Jessamine's body on the ground in a pool of her own blood. But then he'd moved on and had seen the fate of her loyal Protector. Strapped to a chair in Coldridge and being tortured by a massive brute of a man. They had been using a red-hot poker to gouge holes in his chest.

Daud had fled that scene quickly and come upon the Outsider who had given him the Heart and a name. Daud had thrown himself into finding Delilah, but his trips to the Void hadn't exactly ended. Daud was sure it was the Heart tormenting him for what he'd done. More often than not he was treated to flashes of Attano's tortures. The Heart had wanted Daud to be fully aware of every single wound they'd inflicted on an innocent man because of him. He'd wanted to fling the Heart away even more after that. But of course, he couldn't. So, Daud had tried talking to it, begging it to stop. The Heart hadn't been terribly moved by his pleas. But eventually, the Heart ran out of things to show and Daud reached an uneasy truce of sorts with it.

He'd tried to use it by then to help Emily, and that seemed to please the Heart. Even if Daud hadn't somehow wanted to help Emily (which he did), he would have saved her just to appease the spirit that was bound to him. And slowly, that truce went from an uneasy one to more of a genuine wish to get along. And as that happened, Daud began to get glimpses of what made the spirit he now protected within the Heart so special. Why the Outsider would have trapped it and gifted it to him, as horrible a gift it was. His affection was unexpected and made his guilt multiply rapidly. Daud shut that part away as quickly as he could once he realized it was there. Nobody could possibly know such a thing. But there were no hiding things from the Heart.

The Heart hadn't been pleased with Daud's regard and lashed out with vicious whispers and secrets that Daud had already known about himself but tried not to think about. Daud had just accepted it as his own penance for all the horrible things he'd done. And the Heart did still help him find which Boyle sister had been helping Burrows, so clearly assisting Emily was always most important to both of them. Daud hadn't even realized by that point that he'd begun to think of the Heart as a real person and not just a twisted toy the Outsider had made.

Daud's dreams were full of the Heart's whispers and flashes of things he'd already seen, but the Heart seemed to think he needed reminding of. As a result, he woke up still tired and less than pleased. He cradled the Heart in his hands as he sat up in bed. "You really want me to do this that much?" he asked as he stroked the side of the Heart.

~She will search until the end of her days. This chapter will never end if she does not know.~

Daud sighed and leaned back against the wall that his bed was shoved again. "She'll hate me again," he muttered. "You know she will."

~Sorrow often masquerades as hate.~

"Are you trying to say she won't hate me?" Daud asked, peering down at the precious contraption in his hands. "Do you really think that's possible."

~I know her thoughts.~

"That doesn't mean you know for sure how she'll react," Daud pointed out. "This will break her all over again." Daud didn't want to hurt Emily anymore. She always seemed to be getting hurt because of him.

~Healing cannot happen if the break is not clean.~

Daud wanted to argue the truth of that, but he knew that would be semantics more than anything. He understood what the Heart meant. He just didn't necessarily agree with it. ~Please. End it.~ The words were pained. Desperate and tired. And they pulled at Daud's own heart.

Daud closed his eyes tight and brought the Heart up closer to himself. As if he could ever think to deny it. Especially after everything he did. "... alright, love, I will," he murmured before kissing the glass over the whirling gears that kept it beating outside of the chest that owned it. The Heart throbbed but didn't protest the endearment. The Heart hadn't argued against Daud's affection in several years now. He wished he knew if that meant that the Heart accepted it or if it was just too tired now to continue protests. Daud didn't dare hope for the former even as he dreaded the latter.

Getting dressed and arranging everything was difficult, mostly because Daud didn't want to be doing this, at all. Emily was confused when Daud went and got her. He wouldn't say where he was taking her or what for, which got her curious beyond all measure. "Daud, where are we going?" she asked as she peered out of the carriage that they were taking; trying her best to glean whatever information she could.

"You'll see," he said as he kept a hand on the Heart in his coat. He'd already sent several men ahead of them to start.

The ride was tense, and though Emily was a bundle of questions Daud couldn't bring himself to answer her, so it was silent as well. He really sincerely hoped that this was the right thing to do. ~She needs this.~ The Heart whispered to him. Daud _knew_ that but that didn't mean he liked being the one that would bring her world shattering down around her again. Slowly, Emily stopped asking questions. She realized by then that Daud wouldn't answer and that lack of openness was starting to worry her. Daud hadn't been so closed off since she was ten.

The carriage stopped, and Emily practically leapt out, followed at a much more sedate pace by Daud. Emily paused for a moment in confusion before her face lit up and she turned to Daud. "Really!? You found something!?" she grabbed at his hand and Daud felt like even more of a bastard than he usually did.

Daud nodded and squeezed her hand. "We did. Come with me," he murmured. Emily was practically vibrating with excitement or nerves, Daud couldn't quite tell which. She was babbling about something that Daud couldn't bring himself to listen to. The Heart too was oddly silent. Usually, it had at least a few things to say in any given situation. Especially where Emily was concerned. Daud glanced at Emily as they walked and noticed the odd expression in her eyes. There was a strain there. ~She tries so hard to be hopeful still.~

Daud felt his throat trying to tear and swallowed past it even as he continued to lead the way through corridors and winding pathways that were meant to be difficult to remember. Finally, he stepped down one hall that was poorly lit and forgotten about. Before she could follow him though he stopped and turned around. "Emily..." he didn't know what he had been about to say because the look in her eyes stopped him.

His hesitation was enough for her to push past and hurry down the hall to where several Whalers were already standing. "Emily!" Daud called as he rushed to catch up. He had wanted to give her some warning.

Thomas was there and tried to catch her, but they'd already torn down most of the wall and so couldn't block Emily from seeing what was behind it. She screamed.

Daud was quickly pulling her away and holding her tight as she continued to scream and sob and scream some more. Daud glanced through the wall at the long forgotten cell. Corvo Attano's corpse was still there shriveled and curled up on the floor with rags that used to be clothes stained with blood and decay. Daud closed his eyes tightly and held the young Empress to him as she denied it through her tears. ~She knew. But she did not want to believe.~ came the Heart's soft murmur.

Daud opened his eyes again and stroked Emily's hair to try and comfort her. It was useless, he knew, but he tried anyway. Despite his every effort not to, his eyes trailed back into the cell. Claw marks and broken fingernails were on the ground by Attano. He had carved 'Innocent' 'Jessamine' and 'Emily' into the rock in jagged bloody letters. Daud hadn't known the extent of the horror they were going to walk into. He had hoped that Thomas was going to have Attano's body at least covered before they got there but the wall had been several layers thick it looked like and had years to set in place.

Emily was entirely inconsolable. Crying for her Daddy and insisting they had made a mistake. Daud held her there in the hall for hours until she finally exhausted herself enough to fall asleep. Daud wiped his own face free of tears and nodded to Thomas. "Take her to the carriage," he ordered through the clog in his throat.

Thomas looked apprehensive but then nodded and bent to pick up the still crying but now asleep Empress. "What about you, sir?" Thomas asked as Daud straightened.

"I'll be along shortly," Daud answered. Thomas hesitated but then left with Emily. Daud glanced back into the cell, at some point Thomas must have covered the body because there was sheet there now, blocking the horror from immediate view. Daud was glad for it.

It had taken years to track down the records of what cell Corvo Attano had been put in during his time in Coldridge. Partially because the whole wing had been closed off and all the files were locked away within said abandoned wing. It hadn't been hard for Daud to piece together why the entire section had been locked away and unused once he'd discovered it, however.

Daud reluctantly stepped through the hole in the wall and crouched down beside the sheet. He had seen the man's torture in horrifying detail but his last moments had always been blocked away. Daud hadn't known they'd been so cruel as to seal him up in a cell nobody was ever meant to visit again. The Heart throbbed in his coat, and Daud reluctantly pulled it out. "I'm sorry, love," Daud murmured to it.

The Heart throbbed again. ~It is a horrible way to die... by being forgotten.~

"I haven't forgotten," Daud said. "Neither has Emily. We'll remember."

~I just want to rest...~

"You can," Daud said as he stroked the Heart. "We'll bury you properly. Beside Jessamine."

Corvo Attano's heart spasmed in Daud's hand. ~It's so dark... and I'm so hungry...~

Daud closed his eyes and brought the Heart to his lips even as he gently laid a hand on what was too small of a form under the sheet in front of him. To hear how Corvo died confirmed like that was yet another dagger in Daud's chest he would have to bear. "Don't think about it, love. I'm here. You're not alone anymore."

~Please let me free, Daud. Please.~ In all the memories Daud had seen, Corvo hadn't begged once. To hear him doing it now tore at Daud like nothing else. _He_ had done this. Not only had he killed the woman that Corvo loved and taken his daughter he hadn't even managed to save the man's life. He'd died in such a horrible way, and everyone thought he was a murderer until it was much too late. Being proved innocent was cold comfort for the dead. And for those left behind.

"I'll find a way. Even if I have to kill the Black-Eyed Bastard myself," Daud swore.

~Daud.~

"I swear, Corvo," Daud muttered. "Whatever it takes. I know I'm too late. I can't save you. But I can stop him from hurting you more." Corvo's voice sighed, and the Heart stopped throbbing. Daud closed his eyes again and tucked the Heart away before he stood up. They would move Corvo to a proper grave as soon as possible. Emily... well Daud wasn't sure how Emily would handle this news. The Heart had confirmed she had known that her father was gone but 'knowing' it and seeing his body were two very different things.

Daud had known they were looking for a corpse even as Emily begged him to find her father. He held the proof in his hands often enough, after all. But Emily had been stubborn. Convinced that her Father was still alive somewhere. That they could find clues in Coldridge to some place that they'd spirited him off to. Now her little fantasy would be forever shattered. And it was again all Daud's fault. He should have found a way to tell her about the Heart. Then at least she wouldn't have to face the truth so harshly. But then that would require him admitting to her how her Father's spirit was being used and that would only upset her more.

Daud left the cell and started for the exit of Coldridge where he'd left the carriage. He would have to search high and low for a way to free Corvo's spirit from the Outsider, but it was the barest minimum he could do for the man he'd come to love. Daud wasn't a fool. He knew he loved a ghost at best and a shadowy construct that just sounded like Corvo at worst. He'd never even truly met the man in life, but Daud couldn't help himself. The man was stunning. _Had been_ stunning. Daud would do whatever he had to do to let the poor man rest finally. In his coat beside his heart, Corvo Attano's continued to beat.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like hurting more apparently...

They couldn't straighten him out.

That seemed like such a stupid, inconsequential detail to worry about, but something about it resonated. Corvo Attano's funeral was in a few days and they couldn't fit his nearly mummified body into a proper casket without breaking him apart. Trying to uncurl Corvo from the position he'd died in would break all of his limbs off. Daud grit his teeth as he stared down at the papers in front of him without really seeing them. He'd promised Emily they'd bury her father properly and with the respect he'd deserved, but Daud couldn't even get that right! Daud supposed they could cremate him... but that wasn't a method of burial seen as all that respectful here in Dunwall. Cremation was for the poor that couldn't afford a burial plot and coffin or to control disease. Not for a Lord and Father of an Empress.

Daud sighed and reached up to bury his face in one hand. Emily hadn't spoken to him much in the week since they'd opened up the sealed wing of Coldridge. The entire Tower was brought down by the usual cheerful Empress' depression. Black draperies filled the halls and the servants didn't dare speak above a whisper. Emily had insisted on a period of mourning for the whole of Dunwall even though it had been years since most people had even thought about the framed Lord Protector. Sure, corrected books and news articles had been published clearing Corvo Attano from any wrong doing but the general populace hadn't cared much one way or the other. They had been too caught up in recovering after the plague to notice the name of one man being cleared. 

The Heart had been unusually silent in Daud's pocket ever since that time in Corvo's old cell. Daud wasn't sure what to make of that except that the silence unnerved him. How was he supposed to help if neither the Heart nor Emily was speaking to him? 

There was a knock on the door and Daud reluctantly lifted his head. He wiped the moisture from the corner of his eyes. "Enter," Daud called once he was sure that his voice wouldn't waver too much.

Thomas came into the office and closed the door behind him. Daud's eyes did a quick sweep. The younger man didn't look like he'd been sleeping all that well and his Blue Royal Protector's coat was fastened over a rumpled shirt, which was very telling considering how neat and tidy Thomas usually was. "Thomas."

"Everything's set for the funeral," Thomas said as he sat down in the chair across from Daud. "I hand picked the honor guard myself."

Daud nodded but didn't answer. He couldn't think of anything appropriate to say in the first place. Thomas let the silence linger, but didn't leave the office. Thomas was obnoxiously patient sometimes. It had made him an excellent second-in-command, an amazing effective spy, a fantastic bodyguard for a child Empress that just wanted to play with friends, but a bloody annoying everything else. Finally, Daud couldn't take it any longer, "How's Emily?"

Thomas shrugged a little. "Quiet. Upset. She goes downstairs nearly every night but hasn't brought herself to go in the room yet."

Daud nodded in understanding. The first thing that they'd done was move Attano's body to a room in the Tower where he would be prepared for the funeral that Daud was determined to make as appropriate as possible. Still, they didn't want some servant wandering into that room by accident so it was a basement room watched by a few Whalers. Daud himself hadn't even managed to get past the hall that led to that room. "You should probably try to talk with her," Thomas said. "Jameson and Wyman both say she hasn't been herself... not that that's surprising but it's to the point that they're worried apparently."

Daud looked up in alarm. It took a lot to worry Jameson and Wyman at the same time. Both knew Emily better than perhaps anyone else but neither were prone to needless anxiety. And usually, if one was bothered by something the other wasn't. "What are they worried about?" 

Thomas seemed to think about his answer for a moment. "She's hurting a lot... Wyman seems to think that Emily wants to get some sort of vengeance or justice or something, but the only people she could blame and are still around are-"

"Us," Daud finished with a sigh. Burrows had been executed years ago, Campbell died during the plague after being branded a heretic, and the Pendleton Twins were... missing (Daud assumed they were probably dead by now from the hard labor and conditions that Slackjaw had sent them off to, but had no proof). Only the Knife and his Whalers were left.

"Jameson doesn't think she blames us as much as you're probably thinking," Thomas said. "But I don't think she knows how to be around us anymore."

"And I'm supposed to be able to help her with that?" Daud asked in disbelief. Without Corvo's whispered guidance, Daud had no idea how he was meant to help Emily. "The only reason she doesn't want to gut all of us is because we've had eight years for her to get to know us! If she were to have known about this to begin with then she'd never have asked me to be her Spymaster and she certainly wouldn't have taken my suggestion to make you her Royal Protector." The post was only supposed to be a temporary one according to Emily, but Daud had known better even when he'd suggested Thomas. Daud had perhaps even used her blind hope of her Father's survival to help convince her that looking for someone outside of their group for a temporary position had been pointless. Daud still felt bad for that manipulation, but his trust was hard to earn and he'd not dared have someone he didn't trust fully watching over Emily.

"Perhaps take her out tonight," Thomas suggested. "She usually feels better after a good run through Dunwall... and Geoff has been hinting that the bed is quite large at home. I wouldn't mind having a night off, Sir."

Daud frowned. Not that he begrudged Thomas the chance to go home and be with his partner, but being alone with Emily was... he wasn't sure what it was really. Except for uncomfortable. Daud nearly startled when a familiar voice whispered to him ~Go.~ Daud hadn't heard Corvo speak to him in so long he hadn't been expecting the Heart to chime in at all. Even with the Heart's urging Daud hesitated. Would Emily even want to be around Daud right now? Daud couldn't think that she would. ~She longs for someone...~

Daud managed to suppress his cringe. Emily might want someone, but it certainly wasn't Daud. Her Father. Her Mother. Maybe Wyman and Jameson. But certainly not Daud. He's the one that caused all of this.

"Sir?" Thomas asked when he'd been silent too long.

Daud sighed heavily. He didn't want to do this, but how exactly would he justify ignoring the Heart? Daud's comfort certainly wasn't a good enough reason. "Alright, Thomas. I'll take her out tonight." Thomas nodded and seemed satisfied even as Daud dreaded what he'd just agreed to.

By the time Daud had finally built up the courage to approach Emily that night, it was already past midnight. That was probably better for a run over rooftops anyway he tried to reason with himself. As if he hadn't been procrastinating.

When Daud went to the Empress' room the Whalers there said she'd left. Daud sighed but Thomas had already told her where she'd been going at night and so he reluctantly made his way down the stairs. The closer and closer he got the more apprehensive Daud became. He had no right at all to live in this Tower and try to be anything at all to Emily. Daud couldn't 'make up' for what he'd done no matter how much he was trying. Emily had every right to seek her vengeance on him, and Daud would let her if that was what it took to ease her pain. Daud didn't think it would work for more than a few moments. Vengeance hadn't helped Daud cope in the past, but that was one of those lessons that seemed to only be learned through personal experience.

The halls were quiet and the black draperies from floor to ceiling made every corner ominous to walk past. Daud was sure that he was walking to his doom and the heart in his coat was again so terribly silent. The stairs down to the basement was even worse. They were claustrophobic almost with the darkness and the stone walls pressing close on all sides. Daud paused at the end of the hall that would lead to the storage room that Corvo's body was awaiting burial in. This was as close as Daud had ever made himself go.

The very idea that Corvo's body was down that hall made something in Daud's upper chest and throat ache so much that it _hurt_. The same sort of hurt that came from when he'd get near Jessamine's grave. But Corvo's was worse somehow. He'd murdered Jessamine in cold blood, yes, but at least her death had been quick and she'd been given the respect that she deserved after it. Corvo... Corvo had none of those things. He'd had to endure one of the cruelest and slowest deaths possible while being called a criminal. And it was all Daud's fault.

Daud forced himself to take a breath and started walking. The hallway kept getting longer and longer somehow. Daud almost checked to make sure he hadn't wandered into the Void because it seemed to take forever. Finally, though, he made his too heavy feet reach the door to the storage room. Daud mentally cursed when he saw the door was cracked open and he heard crying coming from inside. Of all the nights for Emily to have finally gone inside.

Daud stood there for several moments. He wasn't sure if he could do this after all. Speaking to Emily was one thing. Comforting Emily he could try and do. Stepping into that room where she was mourning over the body of her dead father... that wasn't something Daud thought he could manage. But Emily's tears were horrible to listen to as well. Daud wanted to make things better but he had no idea how he could even begin to do that.

Emotions and people were things that Daud had never been good with. He wanted to help, but he would most likely make things worse. ~Do something~ the Heart commanded. Daud moved without even consciously deciding to to so.

Thankfully, the burial shroud was in place hiding Corvo from view but that did nothing to help with the image of Emily sitting beside the table with her face buried in her folded arms resting beside the conspicuous shrouded shape as she cried. Daud had no idea what to do but the Heart thrummed in a way that he recognized as displeased so he stepped forward cautiously.

Daud hesitantly reached out and put a hand to one of Emily's shaking shoulders. She froze for a second before looking up. Daud's heart hurt at the red of her eyes and the tear tracks down her cheeks. "I'm sorry," Daud said. That was wholly inadequate but that was really the best that he could offer right now.

Emily sniffed and lifted a hand to wipe the moisture from her face. It didn't seem to help much. "... you knew. Didn't you?" she demanded. Daud couldn't bring himself to verbally answer so he nodded instead. "From the beginning?"

"I didn't know he was there," Daud murmured. "But I was sure he was already gone..."

Emily wiped her face again and turned to stare at the black cloth over the table. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Daud felt a dagger right to his chest and it twisted horribly back and forth to dig in deeper. "I should have," he admitted. "But I was afraid of hurting you more. After... your mother, I didn't want to take away Corvo from you too. And you were so certain that he was alive somewhere I couldn't destroy that for you."

A sob managed to escape Emily although it sounded half strangled. "I... I dreamt about him for a long time," she said, sounding utterly crushed. "That's why... I thought he had to be alive still. Every night we'd play hide and seek like we did the day he came home..." Her voice went softer near the end and she bit her lip as fresh tears tumbled down her cheeks.

~It was the only time I could reach her...~

Daud closed his eyes tightly for a moment to try and keep his composure. "I'm sorry, Emily," Daud said again. Emily looked back at the shroud and hesitantly reached out to it. Daud felt his shoulders tense but Emily seemed to falter halfway and pulled her hand back. 

"W-why would they do this to him?" Emily asked, turning pleading tear filled eyes to Daud as if he had the answer somehow.

Daud swallowed hard. "He wouldn't play their games. He wouldn't admit to something he hadn't done even though he knew it would kill him. Why they decided to... do this..." Daud couldn't bring himself to say exactly the horrible method of torture and execution Burrows had decided on, "that I don't know." Firing squad was by far the favored execution method in Dunwall with the odd hanging here and there.

~Burrows always despised me...~ came a whispered answer. ~Everything from my posture when I stood behind Jessamine to the fact that I was Serkonian. The feeling was mutual.~

"... maybe there was no reason besides Burrows being a bastard," Daud said.

"And to think we made sure his execution was fast!" Emily spat. "I wished we'd let him starve to death in a cold little room!"

The Heart throbbed along with Daud's own heart at the vicious but far from undeserved sentiment. Daud squeezed her shoulder slightly. "But you are not Burrows, Emily. You're better than him. He might have deserved worse, but I won't regret that you didn't have to deal with giving it to him. And I'm sure your parents would agree."

"It would have been worth it. Knowing he suffered for what he did!" Emily insisted.

"You might feel differently once the pain isn't as fresh," Daud said. "Although maybe not. It's hard to say."

Emily shook her head. "I don't think I'd regret it."

Daud wasn't going to argue with her about it, since there was no way to change what had already happened. "Alright, Emily. Whatever you say. I was going to go out for a run. Do you want to join me?"

Emily hesitated and looked back at the shrouded form of her father on the table. Daud frowned. "He wouldn't want you to stay in here alone and crying, Emily," Daud stated. He was sure of that. Even if Daud didn't have Corvo's heart tucked away in his coat he would be certain the man wouldn't want his daughter alone crying over his corpse.

"I know, but I just wish..." Emily broke off and ducked her head.

Daud felt that knife digging deep again as Emily nearly gasped in a shaky breath. Not sure if it would help or not, Daud hesitantly pulled Emily off her chair to wrap his arm around her. Emily was stiff for a moment before burying her face in his chest and sobbing into his coat. "I know, Emily... I wish it too," he murmured against her dark hair. Daud wished so much that he could take away her pain. In his coat, Corvo's heart throbbed painfully and Daud swore he heard a stifled noise escape it that was so broken it tore at Daud. He wished so much that he could fix this, but he just didn't know how.


	3. Chapter 3

Five Whalers working together still had a hard time finding Beatrici Attano where she had been living in Tyvia and even then it was vastly luck that had allowed them to locate her. She'd only stopped there because her son had broken his leg and had to go to a doctor. Honestly, Daud wasn't even sure if he should have contacted the woman. The news of Corvo's death would have spread through all the Isles, so she had to already know, but Emily was insistent that the Aunt she'd never met be told directly and invited to the funeral if there was time. It turned out that there wouldn't be time since the group was still in Tyvia and Daud was currently standing beside a black coffin polished to a high sheen, but the Whalers had sent a carrier pigeon back to let the Empress know that her Aunt had been informed and agreed to come to Dunwall at the earliest chance.

Daud's eyes traced the golden and teal enameled royal crest of the Kaldwin family where it stood out against the dark wood. The Attano family crest which was a much darker blue and a surprisingly warm orange-red color that reminded Daud of the Serkonian sun was smaller and just under the Kaldwin one. It wasn't as if there wasn't plenty of room on the top of the casket for both. Daud hadn't been able to bring himself to order the man's body be forced into a standard coffin and though he'd decided it late, they'd managed to get a larger custom coffin made so that Corvo would fit within it. Piero Joplin had suggested stripping Corvo's body to naught but bones to spare breaking anything but still allowing his body to fit in a standard coffin. Daud had knocked out two of his teeth for that suggestion. Not that there was anything inherently wrong with the idea -Daud just couldn't stand the thought of destroying the man's body any more than it already had been. Piero was just lucky that he'd suggested it when Emily wasn't in the room or Daud might have done more than just punched him in the mouth.

Daud put his hand on the top of the almost mirror-like polished surface. The whole throne room was drenched in black draperies and bouquets. Roses in a deep red were in marble urns on either end of the casket, and Serkonian Wisteria plants of the dark purple variety were hanging off various surfaces almost to the floor. Daud's black glove caressed the top of the coffin without much thought before reaching into his formal Spymaster jacket to pull the Heart free.

Perhaps it was just Daud's imagination, but the Heart didn't throb nearly as much as it had before they uncovered Corvo's body. He also didn't hear Corvo's voice very often anymore. Daud couldn't help but worry over it. Daud's eyes watched the gears within the heart silently whirl and spin for several moments before he looked up to where Corvo's portrait was sitting just behind the coffin. Because there was no chance of there being an open casket, a picture had been the next best option. At least, until they discovered there wasn't one.

The realization that there were no surviving portraits of Corvo -if there had ever been one at all- had been devastating to Emily. Luckily, Sokolov had come to the rescue. He'd managed to find several old sketches he'd done of Corvo and that, combined with an old silver-print that Emily had found tucked away in her mother's things, allowed him to paint a new portrait of the man. Sokolov swore up and down that he'd finished a painting of the former Lord Protector just before Emily had been born, but nobody could seem to find it anywhere. Daud had even devoted two nights of searching the palace to trying to discover where it might have been stashed and came up empty. He'd sent Rulfio to continue the search as the man had previously stumbled across Daud's own portrait so perhaps he just had a knack for finding paintings. Rulfio said he'd keep looking, but he hadn't seen even a shred of the picture so far.

Sokolov had regaled Emily with stories of frustration trying to get Corvo to sit still long enough to paint a portrait as he quickly made a replacement. Emily's smile as she listened to Sokolov complain about her father disappearing in the middle of a session with no warning had been weak, but at least it had existed. Hearing something pleasant about her father had cheered the Empress, if only temporarily, and that made it worth Sokolov's grumbling about having to redo his work -which Daud didn't take particularly seriously anyway given how quickly the old man had given in.

Daud's eyes traced the shine down the length of Corvo's coffin before drifting up to the full-sized portrait of Jessamine Kaldwin standing just off to the side. Space next to Jessamine's grave had already been opened up and prepared, and after the public memorial here in the throne room, they would quietly bury Corvo where he should have been from the start.

Daud heard footsteps behind him and tucked the Heart away in his pocket before turning to see who it was. Not in the least surprised to see Emily, Daud at least tried to give her a smile. She returned the attempt, but judging by how little Daud believed hers, he didn't doubt his was even less convincing. His smile always left something to be desired.

Emily stopped in front of Daud and reached out to take hold of his marked hand. It was startling, but Daud forced himself to not pull away. "I want to thank you, Daud."

"Thank me?" Emily nodded. "There's no reason to thank me, Emily," Daud said.

"There is," Emily said. She looked up at Daud again, and he was disturbed to see tears in her eyes. He'd seen that far too much lately and wanted never to see her crying again. "I know you didn't have to do all of this for my Father."

"... yes, I did," Daud managed to tell her truthfully. "It's my fault he's dead." Daud hated to say it out loud, but it was true. It was his crime that Corvo had been accused of.

Emily shook her head. "No. I read what Burrows wrote. I read every word," she said. Daud frowned. He had never meant for Emily to ever so much as see the ramblings of that sociopath. "If Father hadn't been early getting home they wouldn't have been able to frame him," she said, her voice breaking near the end. "He rushed home to see me..."

Oh... no. No. _Absolutely. Not._

"Emily Drexel Lela Kaldwin... you are _not_ blaming yourself for your father's death," Daud almost hissed. He would absolutely not tolerate that. "You were a child, and it is not your fault -or your father's- that he was killed."

"But- if he hadn't been in such a hurry he wouldn't have been there and then-"

"Then they would have just gotten rid of him some other way," Daud said. "Corvo would never have allowed them to use you as a puppet, and they knew that. Burrows would have done whatever he had to to make sure your Father couldn't get in the way. _Burrows_ killed your father. It was him and his Void-damned ambitious, _hateful_... cruel self. Not you and certainly not him loving you enough to hurry home to see you and your mother."

Emily stared at him for several moments as if entirely stunned. The silence lingered until slowly Emily nodded. "Alright... but then you can't blame yourself either. Like you said... they would have just found some other way to get Father out of the way."

The two of them stared each other down before Daud sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "So stubborn," Daud said. Emily smiled and didn't bother denying it. Before he could think better of it, Daud reached over and brushed his thumb across her cheek. "He would have been proud of you."

"And how would you know that?" Emily asked. The Heart in Daud's coat suddenly felt a million times heavier. Wasn't it wrong to keep it a secret from her? Was it really any different from keeping the fact that Corvo was dead in the first place to himself? The Heart had all but forced Daud to tell the truth then. Daud hadn't wanted to, and the news had made Emily cry for days, but the damn thing might have had a point. Dwelling on an unknown had not been a solution.

This wasn't an unknown for Emily, though, Daud thought. She had no reason to believe anything had happened to her father after his gruesome death. She had every expectation that he would be at peace or whatever it was that occurred when one finally died. The fact that _Daud_ knew that wasn't the case didn't change Emily's expectations. She wasn't worrying over the fate of her father's soul.

But should she be?

Daud had noticed less and less interaction with the Heart as every day passed. He had no idea what would happen to Corvo's spirit if the gears just... stopped. Would Corvo be lost forever? Would he be free? The only one who might know would be the Outsider, and that bastard was being as close-lipped as usual.

"Daud?" Emily asked in concern. Typically, he didn't take so long to respond.

Daud sighed heavily. He didn't have the right to keep anything like this to himself. This was Corvo's soul, and that wasn't something that _Daud_ of all people should really be in charge of. "Emily... I have to tell you something."

"Daud, you look almost sick. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Daud said. He glanced at Corvo's portrait and sighed. This was not the best place for this, but if he didn't tell her now when was he ever going to work up the courage to do it again? Probably never. "Come over here, Em. It's probably best if I show you."

Emily frowned but allowed him to guide her over to the first row of chairs. Each had been covered in a pure black cloth with the Kaldwin crest embroidered on the back. They sat down in the first two chairs that they came to and Daud fought the urge to Transverse out of the conversation. He _needed_ to do this because someone besides him should know what happened to Corvo, and Emily was the one that should know it the most.

Daud kept one hand holding Emily's even as he reached into his coat. "I want you to know, I didn't ask for this," Daud said as he slowly pulled the still beating heart out of his breast pocket. Emily stared at the pulsing organ for a moment, clearly puzzled.

"Daud... what is that?" she asked.

"The Outsider's idea of a _gift,_ " Daud said. It took every bit of restraint to not curse the deity right there for his games. "He called it the Heart of a Living Thing. Molded by his hand, he said. But that wasn't what it turned out to be at all."

Emily's eyes were fixed on the Heart in Daud's hands. The spikes that were driven through it. The wires keeping it together. The gears whirling inside that was keeping the heart beating despite how impossible it was. "Then... if it isn't that... what is it?" she asked, finally tearing her eyes up to look at Daud again.

"It's... it's the heart of someone who was alive but isn't anymore. The Outsider ripped the spirit out and trapped it inside its own heart and then gave it to me. I don't know why, and I don't know how to fix it..." Daud said.

"Trapped?" Emily looked back down at the slowly beating heart. "Daud..."

"He's been speaking to me since the Outsider first did this. He was the one that helped me... do something about what I destroyed," Daud said. Now that he started, Daud didn't dare slow down, or he'd never finish. "I've tried to have the Outsider fix this, but he only shows up when he wants to, not when I need something from the bastard. I'm so sorry, Emily. I didn't know how to tell you."

Emily didn't seem to hear the last few sentences at all. Her hands were hovering near the Heart but not actually touching it. Tears were overflowing her eyes again. "He... Daddy?" Daud felt his insides being shred yet again. Emily looked up through her tears. Her lip was trembling, but she somehow managed to not break into outright sobs. "This is how you knew..."

Daud nodded after a beat of hesitation. "How could he be alive if I had his heart in my hand?" Daud whispered. It was the first time he'd voiced that thought aloud, and it hurt even more than it had when it had only chased around his mind endlessly. Because now he could see the pain it brought to Emily. "He's been quieter lately," Daud said. "He used to yell and pester me all of the time, but I've barely heard anything at all from him in days."

Emily hesitantly reached out and put a hand to the glass above the spinning gears. "I... I don't know if it's just that he's finally able to be at peace now that he's been found or if something's wrong or if the magic is just running out. I don't even know what'll happen when the Heart finally stops. He could be freed, or he could be lost for all eternity never to find the peace he deserves," Daud said. "I'm going to find out though. I failed to save his life, but I will do everything I can to save his soul."

"Do you know how you're going to?" Emily asked.

"I have some thoughts," Daud said. "I'm planning on leaving Dunwall after the funeral... to try and find some answers."

"I want to help."

"Emily, I don't have any idea how long something like this might take," Daud said. "You have an Empire to run and people to look after. I'll make sure that you're kept informed, but you have other responsibilities."

Emily closed her eyes and ducked her head in the way that Daud recognized as her knowing he was right, but not wanting to admit it. "He's my father."

"I know," Daud said. "And I'll do everything I can. I promise you that."

Emily was quiet for several minutes before she brushed her hand ever so gently against the side of the Heart. "What kind of things does he tell you?"

"How much he loves you," Daud said. That, at least, he could tell her truthfully and without an ounce of guilt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I have the vaguest idea of a sequel where Daud goes off to go and save Corvo's soul and they have lovely dream meetings and such for the fans to swoon over but that... that right there is literally all I have about that right now. So... I would not be sitting on pins and needles waiting for that one if I were you. Someday. Maybe. But this story wasn't actually about Corvo getting out of the heart it was how the heart being Corvo would mess with Daud something serious and influence his relationship with Emily.


End file.
